I thought I had posted this last night, but can't find it any where. Sorry if there's a stray post somewhere.

Abby is scheduled for surgery Saturday. She had started to lose weight and the vet can feel quite a bit of distension in her abdomen.

Am I crazy for spending $500 and possibly more on a pig that may not survive the anesthesia, let alone whatever is causing the mass in her abdomen?
She's not my pig. The owner won't pay for medical care. Abby's owner is a 10 year girl who's had Bellpepper and Abby for about 3 years. She quickly got tired of them. However, for the past couple of months she's finally gotten really attached to them; hasn't complained about feeding or cleaning the cage, she spends time with them each day, makes them mazes and toilet tube toys and such. She's away visiting relatives for Christmas and calls every day asking how her pigs are doing.

She doesn't know about the mass the vet found in Abby's abdomen several weeks ago.

If nothing is done, I expect that Abby will need to be put down in about a month.
She could die on during Saturday's surgery.
She could need treatment I can't pay for and will die anyway.

How do you know the right thing to do?

And does anyone have any idea what the possible reasons are for this mass? I read the article on the website, but couldn't get a sense if guinea pigs are more prone to cancer than abcesses, or whatever. Abby is a spade 3 year old, so there's no chance of reproductive tumors.

I don't have any answers for you. You are trying to do the right thing for this guinea pig. I can only hope the surgery goes better than expected and that the outcome is positive if that is the path you choose.

She survived until he almost had her closed up, then her heart stopped.
She may have gotten too cold, he said. Or just was worn out. The tumor was huge. WIsh I had done this earlier. But I got so wrapped up with passing Anatomy class, the angst and frustration with that. Plus the hope that it was only a fatty tumor. Plus the fact that Abby's owner would have been royally pissed at doing this behind her back - enough to perhaps even fire me? (I'm the nanny. They're out of state for Christmas)

I'm a little angry - why didn't they keep her warmer? Why did they let her get cold? I know they use a warm water mat or something for guinea pigs. How about a hair dryer for emergencies.

It's useless to blame them - they wanted her to live too.

Bellpepper is now alone.

Someone has to tell Giselle. It should be done before she gets home Friday - because she'll run upstairs to see her pigs - and only find one. We have our Christmas when they get back from Wisconsin - no matter how late. She would have learned about Abby before opening presents.

I don't know if I should bury her in the backyard. I could have her cremated, but Faye thinks that's gross and will always be pissed at me if I do it. Plus, when the other guinea pig dies, Giselle will expect him to be cremated too - and Faye will really be pissed!

Giselle had an extremely hard time with Sheba's death - still talks about how I would have brought Sheba home one more time to say goodbye. She was 6 or 7 at the time, I had G pet and talk to Sheba before I took her to the vet (and I knew if could be the last time), but I didn't tell G why.